The Date That Will Live in Infamy: Pearl Harbor Quiz

Two years after World War II began, the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii incited the United States to enter the conflict. Take this quiz to test what you know about the assault.

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Question 1 of 30

What day was Pearl Harbor attacked by the Japanese?

Sept. 9, 1942

Dec. 7, 1941

The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Aug. 11, 1941

Question 2 of 30

True or false: The attack on Pearl Harbor lasted just 30 minutes.

true

The surprise attack lasted two hours, and only Navy aircraft carriers weren't destroyed.

false

Question 3 of 30

More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers were killed when this ship was sunk.

USS Nevada

USS Oklahoma

USS Arizona

An 1,800-pound (816-kilogram) bomb smashed through the deck of the USS Arizona and landed in the forward ammunition magazine. The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside.

Question 4 of 30

Which ship did NOT sink during the attack on Pearl Harbor?

USS Nevada

USS Maryland

The USS Maryland was attacked but never sunk.

USS California

Question 5 of 30

What did the Japanese NOT attack that allowed the U.S. Navy to quickly recover?

oil storage facilities

The Japanese never attacked the U.S. naval oil storage facilities, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks, allowing the Navy to recover and rebound quickly and get in the fight.

warships

destroyers

Question 6 of 30

How many Japanese planes are estimated to have attacked Pearl Harbor?

250

360

It's estimated that about 360 Japanese planes were part of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

450

Question 7 of 30

Who was the commander of the Pacific Fleet when Pearl Harbor was attacked?

Lt. Gen. Walter Short

Adm. James Richardson

Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel

Kimmel was relieved of his duty after the disaster.

Question 8 of 30

Who was the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet when Pearl Harbor was attacked?

Isoroku Yamamoto

Marshal Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto conceived and carried out the surprise attack on U.S. naval forces at Pearl Harbor.

Toshihira Inoguchi

Osami Nagano

Question 9 of 30

What Japanese naval commander was in charge of the 1st Air Fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor?

Chuichi Nagumo

Nagumo oversaw the attack on Pearl Harbor, but he was later criticized for failing to launch a third attack, which might have destroyed the fuel oil storage and repair facilities.

Isoroku Yamamoto

Ibo Takahashi

Question 10 of 30

Who said this? "Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Roosevelt delivered the Infamy Speech to a joint session of Congress the day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel

Henry A. Wallace

Question 11 of 30

True or false: Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Japan on Dec. 8, 1941.

true

Within just one hour of FDR's famous Infamy Speech, Congress declared war on Japan, taking the United States into World War II.

false

Question 12 of 30

Who was the only member of Congress to vote against going to war?

Thomas W. Harrison

Jeannette Rankin

Rep. Jeannette Rankin was the only dissenting vote. She said because she couldn't go to war as a woman, she wouldn’t send anyone to war either.

John M. Nelson

Question 13 of 30

What commission was appointed to investigate the attack on Pearl Harbor?

the Warren Commission

the Roberts Commission

President Roosevelt appointed the Roberts Commission to investigate and report the facts related to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

the Allen Commission

Question 14 of 30

How many U.S. battleships were moored at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked?

seven

eight

nine

There were nine U.S. battleships moored at Pearl Harbor's Battleship Row when it was attacked.

Question 15 of 30

True or false: The U.S. didn't think Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to an attack from Japan despite the fact that the Hawaiian island chain proved defenseless from a carrier strike during war games.

true

U.S. naval intelligence expected an attack in the Philippines if hostilities broke out between the U.S. and Japan.

false

Question 16 of 30

True or false: In 1942, shortly after America joined World War II, President Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing all Japanese-American citizens be placed in "relocation centers."

true

More than 120,000 Japanese — 80,000 of which were U.S. citizens — were placed in interment camps in Idaho, Utah, California, Arizona, Wyoming, Arkansas and Colorado.

false

Question 17 of 30

Who said this? "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto

The quote is generally attributed to Yamamoto, who is said to have been against the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel

Question 18 of 30

Where did the Japanese attack planes take off?

Midway Islands

aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean

The Japanese planes took off from six aircraft carriers in the Pacific.

Johnston Atoll

Question 19 of 30

True or false: The Japanese called the operation to attack Pearl Harbor "Operation H."

true

false

They actually called it Operation Z.

Question 20 of 30

What famous Morse code message did air attack commander Mitsuo Fuchida transmit to his other Japanese A6M2 Zero fighters?

Bonzai! Bonzai!

Climb Mount Niitaka

to-ra, to-ra, to-ra

Fuchida transmitted "to-ra, to-ra, to-ra!" signaling that the Americans weren't able to mount a defense.

Question 21 of 30

What day and time was the attack on Pearl Harbor?

about 7:45 a.m. on Sunday

The attack took place around 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning, which is likely why there weren't thousands of more U.S. casualties.

about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday

about 3 p.m. on Saturday

Question 22 of 30

What detected the Japanese attack force 70 miles (113 kilometers) out from Pearl Harbor, but soldiers thought it was friendly aircraft?

a submarine crew

U.S. Army mobile radar

A new U.S. Army SCR-270 mobile radar array mounted high up Opana Point on Oahu detected the Japanese attack force from 70 miles out.

a weather balloon

Question 23 of 30

The USS Arizona is one of two ships the Japanese sunk during Pearl Harbor that was NOT able to be raised later. What is the other?

USS Utah

The USS West Virginia was sunk but later raised, and the USS Nevada was heavily damaged. But the USS Utah, which capsized, was never raised and now sits on the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

USS West Virginia

USS Nevada

Question 24 of 30

True or false: Construction didn't begin on the Pearl Harbor memorial until 1960.

true

For years following the end of World War II, the wreck sat largely ignored until a desire grew to establish some type of Pearl Harbor memorial to honor those who died. The USS Arizona Memorial opened in 1961.

false

Question 25 of 30

When did the USS Arizona Memorial become part of the National Park Service?

1965

1977

1980

The USS Arizona Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 1962 and became a National Park Service area in 1980.

Question 26 of 30

On what U.S. battleship did representatives of the Allied and Axis powers sign two copies of the Instrument of Surrender?

USS Missouri

The Instrument of Surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, on the USS Missouri.

USS Alabama

USS Tennessee

Question 27 of 30

True or false: Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s radio broadcast announcing that the Japanese government had accepted the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military at the end of World War II was likely the first time an emperor of Japan had spoken to the common people.

true

This is true. And he spoke in an imperial dialect that few ordinary Japanese people could understand.

false

Question 28 of 30

True or false: The name of the conference calling for Japan's surrender in World War II was the Potsdam Conference.

true

false

Participants included the United States, U.K. and Soviet Union. The countries issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for Japan.

Question 29 of 30

What did the ultimatum in the Potsdam Declaration say Japan would face if it did not surrender?

inevitable and complete destruction

The declaration stated, "The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland."